Amid a year with very few things to celebrate, one of its most celebrated books was Deesha Philyaw’s The Secret Lives of Church Ladies. To date, the short story collection has been a 2020 National Book Award finalist, won the 2020 Story Prize, a 2020 L.A. Times Book Prize for first fiction, and the 2021 Pen Faulkner…Read more...

Each week, Into America, hosted by MSNBC correspondent Trymaine Lee, examines what it means to be Black in America—as told by the people who have the most at stake.Read more...

Go ahead and picture Trevante Rhodes working on Mike Tyson’s famous lisp with a dialect coach because the actor has been cast as the legendary professional boxer for a new Hulu series.Read more...

Vice President Kamala Harris is going to have to get used to being a lot of firsts.

If I busted my ass all season to earn the second-best record in the league, and in turn, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference NBA Playoffs, only to face the reigning champs—who are technically the No. 7 seed, but not really—in the opening round, I’d probably be pissed, too.Read more...

Nearly eight years ago, she co-founded the organization named for arguably the largest modern civil rights movement the nation and world have ever seen. Now, Patrisse Cullors is stepping down from the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation to focus on other aspects of the career and platform she has built for…Read more...

The gunman who shot and killed nine Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) co-workers before killing himself was under investigation for reportedly making racist remarks to coworkers.

The Pennsylvania Parole Board has denied Bill Cosby’s parole, Deadline confirmed on Thursday. Cosby has been incarcerated at Pennsylvania’s State Correctional Institution at SCI Phoenix located in Collegeville for nearly three years after being convicted for drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University…Read more...

Psychotherapist Chamin Ajjan knows that folks are going through so much right now—mentally, emotionally and physically.Read more...

Another day, another racist-ass teacher trying it. Today’s fuckery takes us to Ralston, Neb., where a high school science teacher used a picture of a Black student without his consent on a test and labeled him an “animal.”

If you’ve been hungry for more work from Roxane Gay, you are soon to be sated. Via a press release provided to The Root, publisher Grove Atlantic has entered into a partnership with the bestselling author of Hunger, Bad Feminist, Difficult Women and other incredible works (as well as meriting her own MasterClass) to…Read more...

The mother of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was fatally shot over six years ago by Cleveland police, is fighting to make sure that the police officer responsible for the shooting doesn’t get his job back on the police force.

Weeks before George Floyd was murdered by ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, another Black man in Tacoma, Wash., died in police custody shortly after telling the officers who were restraining him, “I can’t breathe.” That man was 33-year-old Manuel Ellis, and on Thursday, two of the police officers involved…Read more...

Whatever happened to just taking the L? Whether it be the former president and his acolytes or the Central Park Karen, there’s an alarming lack of folks going, “you know what, that’s on me, I fucked up.” One would hope a year was enough time for Amy Cooper to realize why she was wrong, why she faced the consequences…Read more...

I’m starting to think that anonymous racists choose to be anonymous while doing their dirty work because they’re embarrassed by their lack of white supremacist creativity.Read more...

Washing clothes is my favorite chore. I don’t know exactly when this started, but since I was younger, I’ve always enjoyed the process of washing, drying and folding my clothes. I always felt like if I at least had clean clothes, I could go anywhere and do anything. It’s a feeling that’s stayed with me through today.

The BET Awards, which recently revealed that it would be holding its 2021 ceremony live at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, has just announced their nominees for this year.Read more...

KRS-One taught me that “overseers” said fast enough and over a long period of time sound a lot like “officers” in his seminal text, “Sound of da Police,” so it isn’t shocking to me that cops do corrupt things.

This year, it’ll be 100 years since the extremely grotesque act of domestic terrorism known as the Tulsa Race Massacre, which occurred on May 31 and June 1, 1921.

Bill Traylor’s extraordinary life story is American history. The self-taught artist began his unique drawings in his 80s and produced over 1,200 works. His drawings depicted memories from the plantation and the Black Southern experience throughout the 20th century.Read more...

You know, I think I’ve told the story of how Very Smart Brothas came to be a million times at this point. In fact, Damon and I have done it so much I’m fairly certain I know exactly what he’s going to say before he says it. But what neither of us has spent a ton of time talking about, individually and as a collective…Read more...

It’s an undeniable fact that the last year and a half has been a time filled with tremendous loss on multiple fronts.Read more...

John Davis, known as one of the true voices behind once-popular R&B group Milli Vanilli, has died at the age of 66 due to complications from the coronavirus, Variety reports. His daughter Jasmin confirmed the news via a Facebook post on May 24.Read more...

This week, a Massachusetts elementary school teacher was fired after he was exposed as an unabashed white supremacist writer who routinely published his work on white nationalist websites under multiple pseudonyms.Read more...

Kelly, can you handle this? Michelle, can you handle this? Beyoncé, can you handle this?

Who raised y’all?

Five men have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in the shooting of prominent British Black Lives Matter activist Sasha Johnson, who remains in critical condition.

Here at The Root, we’ve provided exhaustive coverage on the ongoing fight in connection with the removal of Confederate monuments across the nation. The pushback against this glorification of inherently racist symbols has finally gotten some real results within the past few years. Sometimes protestors have to take…Read more...

If you thought a global pandemic would stop one of the greatest athletes of our time, you’re sadly mistaken.Read more...

The same conflicted (read: cowering racists) board of trustees at a North Carolina university have received a resubmitted tenure application for Nikole Hannah-Jones after supporters of the New York Times Magazine’s The 1619 Project journalist called the board out for being full of shit.

Racists are a weird bunch. I mean, that’s obvious given that they’re so pressed that colors and cultures that aren’t theirs simply exist. But the thing that truly baffles me is how much effort racists put into being racist. In recent weeks, several nooses have been found at a construction site for an Amazon warehouse…Read more...

An Illinois city has hired a private attorney to investigate its police department over the death of Eric Lurry while in police custody a little over a year ago.

Mellifluous.

Cities across the country are finding out the hard way that if nothing is done about police violence committed against its Black citizens, the streets will continue to see protests and civil unrest, and the taxpayers will continue to have their pockets burdened by lawsuit settlements to police brutality victims or…Read more...

If Connecticut Sun head coach and general manager Curt Miller thought three-time WNBA All-Star Liz Cambage was the one to play with, he was cordially invited to a rude awakening this weekend, according to CBS News.Read more...

When Karine Jean-Pierre stepped to the podium in the White House press briefing room on Wednesday, not only was she the first openly gay woman to do so, she was also the first Black woman to host a White House press briefing in 30 years. (The Root has confirmed that she is openly Black.)Read more...

Regé-Jean Page is everything.

I never understand the logic behind calling the police on a very young child. I can’t imagine looking at a 6-year-old and going “Fuck, I’m in danger.” Apparently, officials at a school in Somerville, Mass., didn’t feel the same way, and after an incident where the police were called on a 6-year-old Black and Latino…Read more...

“The worse thing to happen to us should not define us,” said Yusef Salaam.Read more...

By any measure, John W. Rogers is a success story.Read more...

Most artists promote a new album by making the media rounds, doing meet and greets and other promotional appearances, and hitting the stage to debut their new music.Read more...

Maybe there needs to be a white supremacist offender registry so that Black people and people of color can find out if their neighbors happen to be armed and dangerous neo-Nazis who will hunt them down, even while they are in the confines of their homes.Read more...

Howard University has announced an amazing tribute to one of its most notable alumni—the late beloved actor Chadwick Boseman.Read more...

I’m going to just assume that Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has never read a book. In fact, I think it’s safe to assume that she isn’t even aware of the concept of books. It’s the only way I can make sense of recently resurfaced comments from last year where she said she wouldn’t take down a hypothetical…Read more...

Lee Evans, who wore a black beret and lifted his fist in protest at the podium during the 1968 Olympics, has died at a hospital in Nigeria. He was 74.Read more...

Go, Mary!

On Tuesday, Kristen Clarke became the first Black woman to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights division. On the anniversary of George Floyd’s death, Clarke was sworn into office by the first Black woman to serve as vice president, Kamala Harris.Read more...

Free falling into an 0-2 hole in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, especially against a Dallas Mavericks team that the Los Angeles Temecula Clippers purposely slid down the standings to play against, must be a humbling experience. But if you let the Clippers tell it, despite the very real possibility of this team…Read more...

Samuel E. Wright, the beloved actor, primarily known for his unforgettable voice work portraying the stern crab in Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989) has died at the age of 74, Variety reports. The official page of Wright’s hometown, Montgomery, N.Y., confirmed the news on Tuesday. According to Deadline, Wright died…Read more...